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Dennis Restauro

1 week ago

Sling TV Channel List and Review

Sling TV has gone through an evolution since it first launched. Therefore, I thought it was time to update my review of Sling TV for 2017. Sling TV was a pioneer in 2015, making it easy to save money by cutting the cord on pay TV. Since then, Sling TV has continually added channels, making it one of the top live streaming services available

What Is Sling TV

Sling TV is a streaming service that allows you to watch live TV online from networks previously only available to cable and satellite TV subscribers. Since launching their service in February 2015, Sling TV has expanded its channel listing to add favorites like A&E, TBS, ESPN, Disney, Lifetime, and AMC. In this article, I provide a Sling TV channel list that breaks down the channel package that’s right for you.

First, I want to provide a list of some the things Sling TV accomplished since launching the service in early 2015:

Sling TV Channels List

There are two base packages available. slSling TV Blue is a multi-stream option with FOX and NBC-owned channels for $25 per month. Sling TV Orange is a single stream service that includes Disney-owned channels for $20 a month. You can subscribe to both the Blue and Orange package at a discounted rate of $40 per month.

The table below is a breakdown Sling TV packages and channels each package offers. The table columns are colored to the package (except for Orange+Blue which is yellow). Sling offers add-on extras package. The availability of add-on packages varies between the services. If the channel is available on the service, I simply put the name of the add-on in the appropriate cell. Channel extras package typically add $5 per month. However, you can get the Comedy, Kids, News, and Lifestyle Plus Extras for just $10 per month.

Sling TV also offers premium channels like HBO as well. For those channels, I simply display the price in the table.

I go into detail on the various Sling TV offerings in the Sling TV Packages section of this article. First, I wanted to cover the devices you can use to watch Sling TV, how to set it up, and provide some information on the overall user experience.

Sling TV On-Demand Channels

Sling TV allows subscribers to purchase select streaming services through Sling TV. Not only can you watch these streaming services through the Sling TV interface, but it will consolidate billing for these service into one bill with your monthly Sling TV bill. Sling plans on adding services in the future. Here are the streaming services currently available through Sling TV.

CuriosityStream – This service offers 00 science, history, tech, and nature documentaries on-demand. Check out our full review of CuriosityStream for details on the service. The price to subscribe through Sling TV is $6 per month.

UP Faith & Family – Features family-friendly programming like exclusive seasons of the beloved drama “Heartland,” and select fan favorite series and movies from the cable network UP TV such as “Bringing Up Bates.” The price to subscribe through Sling TV is $5 per month.

PANTAYA – Offers the largest and most varied selection of movies in Spanish not available anywhere else, PANTAYA offers blockbusters and critically-acclaimed films like “No Manches Frida” and “Everybody Loves Somebody.” The price to subscribe through Sling TV is $5 per month.

Sling TV on iOS and Android

Sling TV requires iOS 7.0 or newer. To use Sling on your iPhone or iPad, simply download the app from the iTunes App Store. Android users can get the Sling TV app from the Google Play Store, and it requires Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.3 or newer.

Sling TV on Apple TV

As of June 13th, Sling TV is available on the 4th Generation Apple TV. Sling TV had also introduced a new User Interface on the New Apple TV. Unfortunately, 3rd generation Apple TV and earlier does not support Sling TV. However, simply download the Sling TV app to your iPhone or iPad, and you can watch it on your Apple TV using Airplay Mirroring. You need to simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access the Control Center. From there you can choose “Apple TV” and turn on mirroring (slider shows green).

Sling TV User Interface

The My TV menu allows users mark their favorite shows, so they appear in the “Favorite” ribbon. That means you will never have to search for the new episode of The Walking Dead or Better Call Saul ever again.

You can also add your most watched channels to the “My Channels Ribbon.” This is a fantastic feature as you can pull up your most watched networks in one click, There is also a “Continue Watching” ribbon, so you pick up where you left on a show you stopped watching.

The new interface also features a mini-guide that you can pull up while watching a program. You continue watching your show while scrolling through what’s on other available channels at the foot of the screen. This is a feature many have been waiting for.

Other features include “On Now,” which allows you to see live program options by genres like “sports” or comedy for easy navigation of live TV. There is also a series view that makes it easy to search for a specific episode of a series like Game of Thrones. You can see you which episodes you’ve already watched, and ensure it’s easy to find the next one you want to play.

Cloud-Based DVR

Sling TV’s Cloud-based DVR went live in early March 2017. It’s currently available on Amazon Fire, Roku, Android, and Apple TV devices. Subscribers can activate the cloud DVR feature on any Sling TV package. The cost is $5 more per month and provides the following features

50 hours of cloud DVR storage

Watch recordings anytime, anywhere

Record multiple programs simultaneously with no conflicts.

Keep recordings as long as you want with no expiration

Space is easily managed as Sling TV will make room for new recordings by deleting your oldest ‘watched’ recording when capacity is full

While cloud recordings can currently only be activated on Amazon Fire TV, recordings can be viewed on Roku and Android as well. Functionality for recording with other devices will be rolled out in coming months. Sling TV has said that not all channels will allow recording, so your mileage may vary.

How to Subscribe to Sling TV

You can sign up for all Sling TV channel offerings at sling.com. They are currently offering a one-week trial to try the service and see if it’s worth the subscription. If you decide to subscribe, you can cancel anytime as there is no contractual obligation to the service.

Sling TV Troubleshooting

While Sling TV offers a viable way to drop your cable TV subscriptions, there have been reports of buffering, pixelation and lag during TV shows. The lag tends to happen for shows with an extremely high volume of viewers (like the season premiere of “The Walking Dead.”) I suspect that some of these issues may be due to sub-optimal network situations. I’m not giving Sling TV a pass. Sling TV service quality is ultimately their responsibility. However, I find that the following recommendations alleviate many of the issues.

1. Make sure you have the latest software or firmware update for your streaming device. Depending on what you are using to stream, verify you have the latest Sling TV App.

2. Whenever possible use Ethernet. If you have an 802.11ac router and an AC compatible streaming device (like Roku Premier+) that will work also. It’s my experience that home wireless installations are sub-optimal for streaming video. That’s not to say yours is, but using wired connections eliminates many variables when it comes to poor streaming quality.

3. Dedicate bandwidth to your streaming device. I configured my router to deliver a minimum of 5 Mbps to my Roku by setting Quality of Service or QOS on my router. Since doing this, I haven’t dropped a stream.

4. If you already have a streaming device, then I wouldn’t recommend getting a new one. However, I find that Sling TV works best on Roku.

The Bottom Line

Sling TV is perfect for those contemplating canceling cable as it makes for an easy transition to a streaming based TV solution. Consumers need to be aware that Sling TV isn’t a streaming service like Hulu or Netflix. Sling TV focuses on watching live TV over the internet, which it does very well. Those purchasing Sling TV and expecting a vast on-demand library may be disappointed.

Ultimately, if you currently have cable and are looking for an easy way out, Sling TV may be just what you need. Adding a TV Antenna to get local channels without cable and a subscription service like Netflix or Amazon Prime should be much more affordable than your current monthly cable TV costs.

Sling TV Packages

As of April 2016, Sling TV added a second “Best of Live TV” base package that includes FOX-owned stations. That means we finally have a way to watch FOX Sports 1 online. Furthermore, it’s multi-stream. One account can stream up to three devices. However, there is a catch. Sling Blue doesn’t include Disney-owned channels. You will need Sling Orange for those. It’s essentially a FOX and NBC Channel package Vs a Disney Package Service. I’ll get into all the details in a moment.

While most of this information is covered in the chart at the beginning of the article, I wanted to add this addendum to go into a bit more detail about the channel offerings.

Having regional sports networks available is great news for both cord cutters and sports fans that are subject to the ongoing battle between cable TV providers and Regional Sports Networks. Comcast customers that happened to be Yankees fans were left without Yes Network due to it being dropped by Comcast over such a dispute.

Of course, to have access to any of these RSNs, you must live in the area that the RSN services.

Local NBC Networks Sling Blue customers will have access to live, local NBC broadcast stations in the following ten markets: Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Hartford, Conn., Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C, and San Diego. Sling TV has added NBC on demand to all it’s Sling TV Blue customers. So that means everyone will have access to NBC Prime Time on demand as long as they have the Blue package, even if you are outside of the ten markets with live NBC.

While living or traveling outside of these markets, you’ll still have next-day access to FOX’s hit shows like Empire, New Girl, Gotham and Brooklyn Nine-Nine on demand. Furthermore, you’ll have access to stream in-market NFL games on FOX.

While live local ABC broadcasts are available through the Disney based package, it’s part of a $5 add-on package. FOX is part of the base package with its option.

Sling TV Package Add-Ons

With each base package, you can add on additional channel packages. I’ve outlined those below and which base package they are available.

Sports Package

Cost: An Additional $5 per month for Orange and Sling Blue customers can add Sports Extra for $10 per month.

BeIN Sports and Universal Sports allow you to pause and rewind, provides the last eight days of content, and offers a little on demand. Univision Deportes offers all that as well, except it only provides the past three days of content. Most channels in Sports Extra are live only.

HLN can only be viewed live. However, all other shows in this package allow you to pause and rewind, provides the last eight days of content, and offers a little on demand.

Broadcast Extra Package

Cost: An Additional $5 per monthAvailable on: Sling Orange

Broadcast Extra provides the live local affiliate broadcast for ABC, Univision, and UniMas affiliates. This package is currently only available in Chicago, Fresno-Visalia, Houston, L.A., New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, and San Francisco. Sling TV is looking to expand this offering to all local markets at some time in the future.

Sundance offers no pause or rewind function with live TV but has some on-demand programming. All other networks in Hollywood Extra allow you to pause and rewind, provides the last seven days of content, and offers shows on demand.

Lifestyle Extra Package

Cost: An Additional $5 per monthAvailable on: Both Base Packages

Lifestyle Plus provides the Cooking Channel, DIY Network, Vibrant TV, FYI, LMN, WeTV, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Drama and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. WeTV doesn’t allow pausing and rewinding live TV but has on-demand programming. BET is available for this add-on, but only for the Sling Orange as it comes included with the Sling Blue. Sling Blue also provides E! and Oxygen with this add-on.

* On June 13th, 2016 TruTV moved to the “Comedy Plus Extra” add-on package.

All other networks allow you to pause and rewind, provides the last three days of content, and offers a little on demand.

Comedy Plus Extra Package

Cost: An Additional $5 per monthAvailable on: Both Base Packages

Comedy Plus Extra provides live and on-demand access to MTV, GSN, Paramount Network, MTV2, LOGO, CMT, TV Land and truTV (moved from the former Lifestyle Extra). TruTV is already a part of the Sling Blue base package.

HBO Package

The HBO Package doesn’t allow you to pause and rewind live TV, but it does have a large on demand section. It isn’t on par with HBO Now, but it’s one of the better on-demand offerings.

Cinemax Online

Cost: An Additional $10 per monthAvailable on: Both Base Packages

You can also now purchase Cinemax as a Premium add-on channel. You get all the live, and on-demand Cinemax offered to those with Cinemax on cable. Much like HBO, pause and rewind are absent from live TV.

Starz Package

Cost: An Additional $9 per monthAvailable on: Both Base Packages

The Starz Package includes not only Starz but Encore as well. This package sports a fairly large on-demand section of TV and Movies airing on Starz and Encore.

Cinemax Online

Cost: An Additional $10 per monthAvailable on: Both Base Packages

You can also now purchase Cinemax as a Premium add-on channel. You get all the live, and on-demand Cinemax offered to those with Cinemax on cable. Much like HBO, pause and rewind are absent from live TV.

Sling TV Spanish Packages

As reported by Multichannel, Sling has recently announced more options for Spanish Speaking Customers. These are considered standalone packages. Therefore, customers aren’t required to have the $20 base Sling TV package. However, you may choose to have it if you wish.

Below are the details on a few of Sling TV’s Spanish Speaking Offerings. However, I recommend checking out Sling TV’s website for all the details on their Spanish language offerings. They are quite numerous.

For $10 per month, Sling TV’s Centroamérica package offers the following channels.

CB24 – Get around-the-clock Central American news on CB24, broadcasting 24 hours a day from Costa Rica.

Centroamérica TV – Watch live news, talk shows, music and culture-focused programs from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and more. Plus, get exclusive first division soccer from the Central American countries.

Tele El Salvador – Central American customers will now have access to content from El Salvador, such as news, sports, travel & lifestyle and cooking shows.

Colombia Pack can be purchased for $7 per month, as a standalone pack, or as an add-on to Paquete Total, Paquete Esencial or the Best of Live TV English core pack. It provides Nuestra Tele and NTN24, with RCN Novelas coming soon.

España Pack can be purchased for $7 per month, as a standalone pack, or as an add-on to Paquete Total, Paquete Esencial or the Best of Live TV English core pack. It adds Antena 3 and TV Española Internacional. MIS Películas and SupereÑe will be coming soon.

If this article did not answer your specific question, check out the Cord Cutting Guide. It provides links to the most important articles in our over 200 pages of content to help you ditch pay TV.

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